Flashback Chapter 16 Team Effort

It was only fair to give him two seconds. But when it looks like it'll take ten for him to be anywhere near ready for a scuffle…

Babs sighed, and sucker-punched the mugger, following it up with a kick to the jaw that took a lot less flexibility than one would imagine, due to the fact that the man's head was now level with his groin. He collapsed.

"And a blow is struck for feminism," the now all-too-familiar cheeky voice of Robin said, as the Boy Wonder appeared from nowhere (or, more likely, the nearest alley), scooped up a fallen handbag, and presented it to the old lady it had been stolen from. "Here you go, ma'am," he said with an exaggerated bow.

"And what are you striking a blow for?" Babs snorted.

"Chivalry," Robin smirked. And grappled off.

Babs followed, hoping to catch and slap him, but stopped when she saw him leaning against a red motorbike with an 'R'. Next to him was another; black, with the same yellow bat as she wore on her chest.

"Like it?" Robin smirked. "Your own colours this time."

"Not bad," Babs agreed. "Still owe you for the chivalry comment."

"Keep score later." He handed her a set of ear protectors with a built-in microphone, putting on his own pair. "We got the call."

"What?" Babs asked, then looked to the sky. The Batsignal shone dully on a cloud.

"Come on." Robin started up his bike and moved off, Babs following. "Hostage situation."

Babs nodded, watching the road as they sped up. As they reached potentially dangerous speeds, Robin left the road, disappearing down the stairway to the subway.

The only thing that reassured Babs that her guide wasn't insane was the fact that, this being Gotham, even the subways were fairly empty after sundown. Even so, it took quite some manoeuvring to prevent any nasty collisions. As they zipped through the station, a thought occurred.

"Isn't the GCPD HQ the other way?" she called.

"Don't shout, we're comm-linked," the voice in her ear replied. "We're going straight to the problem."

They reached the platform, a train roaring through without stopping. Babs slowed, preparing to stop, and…Robin zipped straight onto the track.

"Are you crazy?" Babs yelped, staying just behind him.

"Nah, we'll be fine," came the response. "Just watch the third rail; I think you'll find it rather…shocking."

Babs gritted her teeth at the bad pun. She couldn't decide if her friend (when did he become that? Wasn't he still a bit of an irritant?) was extremely courageous for dropping everything to run after the signal, or an insane moron for playing freeze-tag with subway trains. Well, that would make her a moron too, for following.

"A, what can you do to get us some space?" Robin said, and Babs frowned. Who was he talking to? Before she could ask, another voice cut across.

"The wayward train you're chasing has been diverted on to a disused track," the voice said. "How is the young lady?"

"Just fine, A, was it?" Babs said before Robin could reply.

"That's him. First and best in the support staff," Robin answered. "Thanks, A."

"Tread carefully," the voice (British? Odd) replied. "Gotham Mass Transit will likely reroute the car once systems detect my unauthorized detour."

They sped down the tunnel, catching up with the subway train. "Let me go in first and soften him up," Robin offered. "If he sees you, he'll probably go berserk."

"No way," Babs refused, just a little insulted. "We're in this together."

"You don't understand. It's Mark Desmond, Blockbuster," Robin explained. "And he really doesn't like Bats."

Babs stared at the car as a quick plan formed, determined to do something other than meekly follow orders. "I can take care of myself," she declared, ignoring his protests as she increased speed and drew alongside the car.

She overtook, turned onto the track, and jumped, catching hold of the side and slipping on top as her bike was smashed to pieces. She winced internally; she must be annihilating the Bat-bike budget single-handed, but it couldn't be helped. Blockbuster needed to be drawn out of the car, and if that meant trashing the vehicle to get his attention and offering herself as bait, so be it.

"What make noise?!" Blockbuster roared, sticking his head out the window. Babs reached down with her can of mace and sprayed the whole bottle in his eyes. "Argh!" he shrieked. "Stings! Make Batgirl hurt!"

Babs caught sight of a multi-coloured blur slip into the car as she scrambled backwards. Good; Robin would take care of the civilians. She just had to worry about the hulking behemoth of a man climbing up to her. And the thought occurred that she didn't know what she was doing. She didn't know what made Mark Desmond into Blockbuster. Industrial accident? Birth defect? Experimentation? And she didn't know if there was a way to change him back, or trick him into docility. For a moment, terror washed over her as one giant, meaty fist smashed a skylight she'd just crawled backwards over.

And then it passed. It didn't matter. Just like Robin running off after the signal, all that mattered was standing between the criminal element and the innocent. When someone new first surfaced, there was neither time nor opportunity to research backgrounds and weaknesses. No matter how useful it was, knowledge on its own would never win the battle. You just have to fight.

So fight she did. Dodges, mostly; and throwing and gashing. But all too soon, Blockbuster's hands were wrapped around her throat. She tried to pry his fingers off, but failed. Remembering reading something about the difficulties of subway maintenance, she looked up, watching the ceiling ahead. At the right moment, she thrust her legs into his chest, pushing him up half a foot just in time to get a face-full of overhang, leaving him more than half unconscious and his grip flaccid.

Squirming away, she slid off the roof, scrabbling to hold on until she felt an arm wound around her waist. "I've got you," Robin said, pulling her into the empty car. "Good work," he said, leaning in close, his lips finding hers.

Every thought left her mind.

The subway train pulled into the station, and they left out the back, slipping into the darkness.

AN: Another chapter, another bad guy in need of a pounding. Next week will be the final chapter in this arc, then back to Family Ties.

Also updating this week: Black and Red, wherein investigations are underfoot. And next week, a return to Little Bird's Vengeance and the problems SHIELD, the Avengers and the Titans are trying to deal with.

Please leave a review, and feel free to ask any questions if you're curious, or confused, or just want to know how much this differs from the comics.

Anyway, see you next week.

Katara